In a crowded room full of eager students and proud parents, a young girl from the St Andrew community of Chamber's Lane beamed as she cut the ribbon to open the Champions Homework Centre last Wednesday.

The centre, located at Campion College, is intended to benefit primary and secondary school students from nearby Chamber's Lane.

The visiting spectators were impressed by the quality of the centre, which boasts Internet access in a room that accommodates any educational need for young students.

Reason for initiative

Charles Tevares, a spokesperson for the Chamber's Lane community, said the initiative was started because children from the community were constantly roving the Liguanea area and officers from the Matilda's Corner police station asked that they be placed in a homework programme that could utilise their energy.

"At the same time I came and asked the school (Campion College) for some assistance and from there that is how we started," Tevares said. "And it turned into something quite great! In fact, right now, we have too much assistance! So it has done well and other communities are asking me if the same project can be implemented in their community."

The 'Champion' centre cleverly takes its name from a combination of both 'Campion College' and 'Chamber's Lane'; only one facet which reflects the cohesive effort made by the two communities to benefit the students from Chamber's Lane. The centre currently assists 29 students from 15 schools.

Even more impressive is the number of sixth form volunteers from Campion who have offered themselves to tutor the Chamber's Lane students during the two-hour session during which the homework centre is open from Mondays to Thursdays. there is a total of 61 volunteer tutors.

Funding

The centre, however, was not created simply from the goodwill of the school and community. It received all its funding from Mayberry Investments.

Christopher Berry, Mayberry's executive chairman, told The Gleaner that the company funded the project after it was suggested by the school's principal.

"We have a foundation called the Mayberry Foundation and our primary focus is education and health. So we decided to pick three schools to work with. The headmistress of Campion College proposed this project, and we picked it," Berry said.